nor has he become wayward.”

And in His saying:

“Not those who have incurred Your wrath, nor those who have gone astray.”

And His saying:

“Indeed, the criminals are in error and blazing fires.”

Likewise, when “waywardness” is mentioned without qualification, it encompasses every act of disobedience to Allah, as in His saying concerning Satan:

“I will surely lead them all astray, except Your chosen servants among them.”

Yet it may be mentioned alongside misguidance, as in His saying:

“Your companion has not gone astray, nor has he become wayward.”

Likewise, when the term “poor” is used on its own, it includes the needy; and when “needy” is used on its own, it includes the poor. When the two are mentioned together, however, each refers to a distinct group. Examples of the first usage are His sayings:

“If you conceal your charity and give it to the poor, that is better for you.”

“Its expiation is to feed ten needy people.”

An example of the second is His saying:

“Charitable alms are only for the poor and the needy.”

These terms vary in meaning according to whether they are unqualified or qualified, used in isolation or alongside other terms. Sometimes, when used on its own, one term is broader than the other, as with “faith” and “what is right” in relation to deeds and truthfulness, and “wrongdoing” in relation to indecency, transgression, and the like.

At other times, the terms are equal in their breadth and specificity, as with “faith,” “righteousness,” and “piety,” or “poor” and “needy”: whichever is used without qualification encompasses what the other encompasses.

The same applies to “recitation.” When used without qualification, as in His saying:

“Those to whom We have given the Scripture recite it as it should be recited,”

it includes acting upon it. This is how the Companions and their successors, such as Ibn Masʿūd, Ibn ʿAbbās, Mujāhid, and others, explained it. They said: “‘They recite it as it should be recited’ means that they follow it as it should be followed: they regard as lawful what it declares lawful, regard as unlawful what it declares unlawful, act upon its clear verses, and believe in its ambiguous verses.”

It has also been said that the word here means following, as in His saying:

“And by the moon when it follows the sun.”